Kirt Wilson

Professional Bio

Dr. Kirt H. Wilson is a communication scholar working at the intersection of political rhetoric and debate, race and racism, U.S. history and public memory. A humanist scholar of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American oratory, he researches U.S. congressional debate, presidential communication, and social movement rhetoric spanning the Black Freedom Struggle. He is the author and editor of three books and a wide array of articles in journals of communication and rhetorical studies. Most recently, he completed a survey of twentieth-century rhetorical theory and practice that will appear as Part VI of The Norton Anthology of Rhetoric and Writing (W.W. Norton & Company, in press). Wilson has earned multiple awards for his research and administrative leadership from the National Communication Association and the Rhetoric Society of America. The Rhetoric Society of America named him a Fellow in 2022 after he served as its president-elect and president. Professor Wilson teaches CAS 101N – Introduction to Human Communication (a required large lecture course for majors and minors), CAS 311 – Methods of Rhetorical Criticism, CAS 422 – Contemporary African American Communication and Culture, and CAS 503 – Graduate Research Methods in Rhetorical Criticism. He has served twice as the CAS Director of Graduate Studies and was appointed Department Head in 2022.